What actually is Halloween? Here's how the holiday evolved into the spooky celebration it is

Halloween is just around the corner, though the seasonal decorations and goodies have been on store shelves for months.

While you are organizing costumes , putting out decorations and buying bags of candy for the holiday, you may wonder exactly how and when the spooky day got its start and what historical celebrations looked like.

The Arizona Republic photographers have long photographed Halloween celebrations, including decades of trick-or-treating, unique costumes and over-the-top yard decorations. Take a step back in time to see what Halloween looked like in the 1960s and up until today.

Here's what to know about the origins of Halloween and how it evolved in the United States.

How did Halloween get started?

The modern-day Halloween celebrations can trace their roots back more than 2,000 years to the Celtic festival of Samhain, according to History.com . The festival marked the end of the year and many also felt that the boundary between living and dead was thinnest on that day.

Over time, the celebration changed and shifted as Rome conquered the area and other festivals honoring those who passed and fruit were combined.

The Catholic church eventually adopted Nov. 1 as All Saints Day to celebrate the departed, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The night before became a hallowed eve, which is where the name Halloween comes from.

Where does the trick-or-treating tradition come from?

Costumes have long been part of Halloween, including with the original Celtic celebrations of Samhain and All Souls Day, History.com says.

Trick-or-treating traditions likely date back to early All Souls' Day celebrations in the United States, according to History.com. People would ask people for food and receive "soul cakes" if they promised to pray for a family's deceased relatives.

As Halloween became more popular in the United States during the 1800s, some would dress up in costume, going door-to-door asking for food or money, according to History.com.

Trick-or-treating came back between 1920-1950 as a way to celebrate Halloween as a community, according to History.com

When is Halloween?

Halloween is on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024.

5 Halloween facts

• The National Retail Federation predicted that Americans would spend a record $11.6 billion dollars on Halloween this year, with $3.5 billion of that spent just on candy.
• The most popular Halloween costumes in metro Phoenix this year are Woody, Batman and Deadpool, Google Trends shows.
• The most popular Halloween candy is M&M’s, followed by Reese’s Cups and Sour Patch Kids, according to CandyStore.com.
• "Don't Listen (Voces)," a Spanish horror movie, was named the scariest movie of all time based on the number of jump scares and its script, a new analysis from VIP Grinder shows.
• The most popular Halloween foods this year include mummy hot dogs, dirt cups, candy apples and pizza skulls, search trends show.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: What actually is Halloween? Here's how the holiday evolved into the spooky celebration it is